Online service providers regularly offer new services and upgrade existing services to enhance their users' online experience. Users have virtually on-demand access to news, weather, financial, sports, and entertainment services as well as the ability to transmit electronic messages and to participate in online discussion groups. For example, users of online service providers such as America Online® or CompuServe® may view and retrieve information on a wide variety of topics from servers located throughout the world.
Several software applications are made available by online service providers and application providers as delivery mechanisms to deliver electronic content and messages. These applications include electronic mail (email), instant messages, and public or private electronic bulletin boards. In addition, several other applications or devices may serve as delivery mechanisms, such as applications or devices using the short messaging service (SMS), the wireless application protocol (WAP), the transport connection protocol (TCP), the Internet protocol (IP), the World Wide Web, one or more local area networks, and/or one or more wide area networks. Delivery mechanisms also may include analog or digital wired and wireless telephone networks (e.g., public switched telephone networks (PSTN), integrated services digital networks (ISDN), various types of digital subscriber lines (xDSL), advance mobile telephone service (AMPS), global system for mobile communications (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS), and code division multiple access (CDMA)), radio, cable, satellite, and/or other delivery mechanisms for carrying voice or non-voice data.
Furthermore, a variety of other devices or software applications may act as delivery mechanisms capable of rendering electronic communications to an intended recipient. The delivery mechanisms may include devices such as a telephone (either fixed or mobile), a pen-enabled computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a notebook computer, and/or a desktop computer. The delivery mechanisms also may include software applications, such as, for example, a Web browser, an email client, an instant messaging (IM) client, a business productivity application (e.g., a word processor or, a spreadsheet program), and/or an operating system or operating system kernel residing on a device.